Rafa Was Just Too Good!

Written by: Tennischiro on 11th June 2012

Rafa Was Just Too Good!

epa03259478 Rafael Nadal of Spain holds the championship trophy after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 11 June 2012. EPA/STEPHANE REIX |

Rafa simply played too well. I should have known that would happen as soon as I picked Djokovic! After the US Open last September, it appeared Rafa had to retool his game to have a chance against Djokovic, even on his beloved terre battue of Roland Garros. He made inroads in that transformation for the Australian, but he was not quite there. Over the last couple of months he has reestablished himself in his perch as the best clay court player of all time.

After being knocked back in the third set when he was just 4 games from history yesterday and even going down a break in the fourth before the rains halted play for the day, Rafa came out and put a stake through the heart of the vampire Djokovic. How did he do it? The transformation required a bigger serve, a more aggressive backhand and deeper forehands. He delivered all three and the sun even peeked out to dry the court just in time for him to complete his record breaking 7th French Open victory.

1st Set:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/256/djokovicnadalrg2012set1.jpg/

2nd Set:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/djokovicnadalrg2012set2.jpg/

3rd Set:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/526/djokovicnadalrg2012set3.jpg/

4th Set:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/nolenadalrg2012set4full.jpg/

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10sChiro’s Post US Open Performance Measure

By winning at Roland Garros, Rafa cut Roger’s lead to less than 500 points; Djokovic is just 800 points behind Nadal. Federer needs a great grass season to keep his hopes of recapturing the number one ranking alive. It seems ridiculous to consider in light of the tremendous showing we’ve just seen from Nadal and Djokovic, but Roger still holds a substantial lead for the 12 months ending with the US Open and this is one of the best parts of the year for him.

10sChiro

to see other articles by 10sChiro, go to
https://archive.10sballs.com/category/columnists/dr-chiro/
or
https://archive.10sballs.com/author/don/

If you want more information about lessons with TennisChiro or his videotaping and analysis service, contact him at donbrosseau@earthlink.net. This summer he will be the Head Pro at the Buckskill Tennis Club in Easthampton, NY. (buckskilltennis.com)

Topics: 10sballs.com, French open final 2012, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Rpland Garros, Sports